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   CLUB SANDWICH 61

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Club Sandwich 61

AND IN THE GREEN CORNER

We may wish to backslap, relax and think we’ve done well, but the battle to preserve our planet is far from won. In this edition of And In The Corner, Mark Lewisohn review two important new user-friendly books that serve to remind us of our dereliction of duty

            We are but eight years away from the dawn of a new millennium, and a perfect opportunity to reflect on how gifted and resourceful we can be, but things are still frighteningly wrong with our way of life. In The Green Almanac author Graham Maclachlan paints a disturbing picture that just has to be faced if man is to survive in the manner to which he has become accustomed. Can it really be true that there are only 500 blue whales left in the Antarctic waters, a mere 0.2 per cent of the population that existed before the advent of commercial whaling? Do the Japanese really throw away two billion chopsticks every year? And, right now, in 1992, is it true that almost half of the world's women are illiterate? Tragically, yes, on all three counts.
            As an easy-to-read, how-to-act snapshot of global concerns, The Green Almanac is certainly an eye-opener, even for the 'Green' among us. The population of bats is in serious decline because of something as unnecessarily damaging as the chemicals in timber preservation treatments. More than 20,000 dolphins are killed annually by US fleets just so that people can eat tuna fish. And 4.6 million children die annually from nothing more than simple diarrhoea, caused by polluted drinking water. This surely is preventable.
            A best-seller in the USA, the Earth Works Group's 50 Simple Things You Can Do To Save The Earth is so valuably instructive that governments should distribute copies free to every household. Simply, and effectively, it imparts some remarkable information: a tap left running while brushing one's teeth wastes between six and 12 gallons of water every time; coffee filter papers - which we dispose of by the million every year - are bleached white for us by the manufacturers in case we don't care for their appearance, the process in turn creating deadly dioxins which are dumped into rivers. Plastic rings which hold together packs of canned drinks can be lethal to marine life - they get left on beaches, or find their way into the water along with tonnes of other rubbish dumped there, and can strangle or drown seabirds who get caught up in them. The simple act of snipping open the plastic rings before disposal will prevent this - or, of course, we could invent an alternative means of tying tins together.
            Books like these are vital for pointing out problems and providing solutions for those who wish to know. But this, in itself, is the biggest dilemma of all: persuading everybody everywhere that environmental problems apply equally to them. Those who enjoy a good chuckle at the sight of a sandal-wearing, 2CV-driving 'Green' but do not recycle, who continue to use pollutant detergents and put leaded fuel into their cars are the real fools. The problem of activating everyone to do his or her bit remains the biggest stumbling block of all.

The Green Almanac, by Graham Maclachlan, is published by Lochar Publishing, Moffat, Scotland DG10 9ED; £6.99 in UK from bookstores, ISBN 0-948403-72-1.
50 Simple Things You Can Do To Save The Earth,
by the Earth Works Group, is published by NEL; £3.50 in UK, ISBN 0-450-54020-0.

PS from Paul:
For those of you getting into 'Green' ideas here are some helpful addresses that may speed your passage.

Friends of the Earth (England and Wales), 26-28 Underwood Street, London Nl 7JQ

Friends of the Earth (Scotland), Bonnington Mill, 72 Newhaven Road, Edinburgh EH6 5QG

Friends of the Earth (USA), 218 D Street SE, Washington DC, 20003

Friends of the Earth (International), PO Box 19199, 1000 GD Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Greenpeace (UK), 30 Islington Green, London Nl 2PN

Greenpeace (USA), 1436 U Street NW, Washington DC, 20009

Greenpeace (International), Keizersgracht 176, 1016 DW Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Animalme, PO Box 3012, London W4 3YF, England

Lynx, PO Box 916, Dunmow, Essex CM6 1UH, England

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), PO Box 42516, Washington DC, 20015-0516, USA